Serpentine Gallery

This gallery, split over two sites, is one of London’s most important contemporary-art galleries. Damien Hirst, Andreas Gursky, Louise Bourgeois, Gabriel Orozco, Tomoko Takahashi and Jeff Koons have all exhibited here. Each year a leading architect (who has never built in the UK) is commissioned to build a new "Summer Pavilion" nearby: open to the public from June to October. The galleries run a full program of readings, talks and workshops. The Serpentine North Gallery, with a wing designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, is a few minutes away over the bridge.